Leah Perlmutter

Member since February 2012

Director of Researcher and Strategist Open Mind Strategy

New York New York

10016 USA

Leah Perlmutter is a Director of Research and Strategy, and resident cultural anthropologist at Open Mind Strategy. As a “hybrid” qualitative and quantitative researcher, Leah’s analytical and humanistic approach to understanding consumers has helped uncover deep insights for clients across many categories. She has cultivated a particular expertise in media and youth, digging into their beliefs and behaviors on projects for clients including Food Network, iHeartMedia and MTV. As a moderator, Leah excels at creating a comfortable and open space for uncovering respondent truths. She is thrilled to have found way to use her anthropological background on a daily basis to identify and truly understand the cultural trends of those around her.

Today's feminism stresses that true equality must come not only from women being equal in the work place, but also from men contributing equally at home. Millennial parents are the first to try to
take on this challenge of equal contribution both in terms of the paychecks they bring home and the work that goes into childcare and household chores. Millennial parent attitudes are proving that it
truly is a challenge as both parents seem to be taking on more and working harder without benefiting from the relief that their partner should, in theory, provide.

As the conversation about Gen Z - aged 20 and younger - grows, it is clear that while in some ways they deepen Millennial trends, in others they are quite different. This is particularly the case with
the guys who have completely turned what we thought we knew about young men on its head.

Bars have had it figured out for ages: A ladies night will bring in the guys. When girls are there, guys have an incentive to hop on the bandwagon. While this has always been the case in the real
world, the same phenomenon has increasingly made its way into the digital world as well.

With all the buzz around new technology, the latest apps and the future of media, it is easy to assume that everything is moving in the direction of on demand, customizable content. However, in
surveying and talking in person with thousands of young people across the country we find that even the latest and greatest new music inventions can never fully replace the connection they feel to
live AM/FM radio and the personalities that bring it to them.

What's a side hustle? As a Millennial, I'm no stranger to peers who focus their energies on passions beyond their day jobs. Playing or writing music, making videos, baking cupcakes or blogging have
become popular Millennial side hustles, which offer creative outlets aside from today's insecure "traditional career paths" in an underwhelming job market.